Shirt with mask

ABSTRACT

A shirt construction having a shirt with a surface extending between a neck opening and a waist opening, at least a first attachment member disposed on the surface of the shirt, a mask having an elastic member for securing the mask about a person&#39;s head, and a second attachment member provided with the mask, the second attachment member being configured to cooperate with the first attachment member in order to secure the mask to the surface of the shirt.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to and the benefit thereof from U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/744,004, filed Oct. 10, 2018,titled “SHIRT WITH MASK,” the entirety of which is hereby incorporatedherein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides for shirt and mask and, in particular, amask that can be removably attached to a shirt.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A and B show a shirt with a mask removably attached thereto inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows exemplary shirt designs showing the mask in attached andremoved conditions;

FIG. 3 shows several exemplary shirt designs with the masks attached;and

FIG. 4 shows mask designs that correspond to the shirts of FIG. 3 aswell as additional masks.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION CERTAIN OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1A and B, an embodiment is illustrated of a shirt 100with a mask 102 removably attached thereto. The shirt includes at leastone attachment member 104 that permits the mask 102 to be removablyattached to the shirt 100. As shown in FIG. 1, two attachment members104 are provided. However, more or less attachment members 104 can beprovided in order to removably secure the mask 102 to the shirt 100 inany given embodiment.

The attachment member 104 can be a mushroom-shaped post 106 that isreceived through corresponding slit 108 in the mask. The slit 108 can bemanipulated and deformed to insert and removed the mushroom-shaped post106. The shape of the post 106 and slit 108 cooperate to removablesecure the mask 102 to the shirt 100 once the head of the post is passedthrough the slit. As will be understood, the mushroom-shaped post has aneck region extending away from the shirt and an enlarged head which issized to be securely received in the slit 108. A back side of the postportion can include structure for receiving a piercing element (notshown) which can be used to affix the post the shirt. In alternativeembodiments, each post 106 in a given embodiment is affixed to the shirtin an intended position by sewing, glue or other conventional means.

Accordingly, using the attachment member 104 the mask 102 can bemaintained attached to the shirt 100 in a first condition and detachedfrom the shirt 100 in a second condition. The mushroom-shaped post 106and slit 108 are just one example of a removable attachment member thatcan be used. Other types of attachment members can include hook and loopfasteners, buttons, snaps, magnets, clips, or other suitable devicesthat can allow the mask 102 to be removably attached to the shirt 100while the post 106 or other removable attachment member 106 hasstructure which remains associated with the shirt 100 at all times forgood alignment of the mask 104 with the shirt 100 when the mask isre-attached.

In the removed condition, the mask 102 can be worn by a user, forexample, as shown in FIG. 2. As one example, the person wearing theshirt 100 can remove the mask 102 from the shirt and wear the mask aboutthe user's face. The mask 102 can include a strap, such as an elasticstrap, which allows the user to support the mask 102 about the user'sface. The shirt can optionally include a pouch to support and concealthe strap when the mask 102 is attached to the shirt 100 in order tominimize the visibility of the strap when attached to the shirt, whichcould otherwise detract from the aesthetic design of the shirt. Thestrap can also be used to removably secure the mask 102 to the shirt100, for example, via clips on the shirt that engage the strap in lieuof the aforementioned mushroom-shaped posts 106.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, for example, the shirt 100 can include adesign 110 and the mask 102 can also include a design 112. The design110 on the shirt and the design on the mask 112 can cooperate to providea corresponding design. For example, the design 110 in FIG. 1illustrates a robot face that includes eyes. The mask 102 includes cuteye holes and graphics that illustrate eye brows. The attachment members104 position the mask 102 in relation to the design 110 on the shirt 100so that they provide a cooperating design. For example, the eye holes onthe mask 102 are positioned so that they overlay the eyes of the robotface of the graphic design 110 on the shirt. As another example, acooperating design is one in which a first graphic image on the shirt100 and a second graphic image on the mask 104 represent identifiableimages when viewed in register with one another as when the mask isattached to the shirt and when viewed separately as when the mask isworn on the person's head while the person is also wearing the shirt.Accordingly, the mask and the shirt provide a cooperating design in someembodiments. As shown in FIG. 1A, the mask 102 is shown closely againstthe shirt 100 and FIG. 1B shows the mask 102 slightly pulled away fromthe shirt 100 to show the graphics 110 on the shirt that are normallycovered when the mask 102 is attached to the shirt 100.

As another example of a cooperating design, the mask 102 can include agraphics features that appear to extend from the mask 102 and onto theshirt 100. As an example, the attachment members 104 can position themask 102 in relation to the shirt 100 such that a graphic line on themask can be aligned with a graphic line on the shirt such that thegraphic line on the mask appears to extend onto the shirt, for example,as shown in region 114 of FIG. 2. This can provide a “seamless-type”design in which the design 112 of the mask 102 appears to be an integraland continuous part of the design 110 on the shirt 100. The shape of themask 102 can also be structured so that the shape of the mask cooperateswith the graphic design 110 of the shirt 100. As one example, asdiscussed above, the mask 102 can include eye holes that correspond tothe graphic design 110 on the shirt 100 (e.g., eyes of a robotic facegraphic). As another example, the mask can be cut to have the shape ofears that can correspond to the graphic design 110 on the shirt (e.g.,when the mask 102 is attached to the shirt 100, the mask is attachedsuch that the ears of the mask are positioned to correspond to thelocation of where ears would be appear on the graphic design 110 on theshirt 100). FIG. 4 illustrates several exemplary shapes of masks 102before graphic designs are applied 102 a and after graphic designs 112are applied 102 b.

FIG. 3 illustrates several exemplary designs in which a shirt 100 andmask 102 are attached and FIG. 4 illustrates the corresponding masks 102without the shirts.

The subject matter described above is provided by way of illustrationonly and should not be construed as limiting. Various modifications andchanges can be made to the subject matter described herein withoutfollowing the example embodiments and applications illustrated anddescribed, and without departing from the true spirit and scope of thepresent invention.

Notably, the figures and examples above are not meant to limit the scopeof the present application to a single implementation, as otherimplementations are possible by way of interchange of some or all of thedescribed or illustrated elements. Moreover, where certain elements ofthe present application can be partially or fully implemented usingknown components, only those portions of such known components that arenecessary for an understanding of the present application are described,and detailed descriptions of other portions of such known components areomitted so as not to obscure the application. In the presentspecification, an implementation showing a singular component should notnecessarily be limited to other implementations including a plurality ofthe same component, and vice-versa, unless explicitly stated otherwiseherein. Moreover, applicants do not intend for any term in thespecification or claims to be ascribed an uncommon or special meaningunless explicitly set forth as such. Further, the present applicationencompasses present and future known equivalents to the known componentsreferred to herein by way of illustration.

The foregoing description of the specific implementations will so fullyreveal the general nature of the application that others can, byapplying knowledge within the skill of the relevant art(s) (includingthe contents of the documents cited and incorporated by referenceherein), readily modify and/or adapt for various applications suchspecific implementations, without undue experimentation, withoutdeparting from the general concept of the present application. Suchadaptations and modifications are therefore intended to be within themeaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed implementations, basedon the teaching and guidance presented herein. It is to be understoodthat the phraseology or terminology herein is for the purpose ofdescription and not of limitation, such that the terminology orphraseology of the present specification is to be interpreted by theskilled artisan in light of the teachings and guidance presented herein,in combination with the knowledge of one skilled in the relevant art(s).It is to be understood that dimensions discussed or shown are drawingsare shown accordingly to one example and other dimensions can be usedwithout departing from the invention.

While various implementations of the present application have beendescribed above, it should be understood that they have been presentedby way of example, and not limitation. It would be apparent to oneskilled in the relevant art(s) that various changes in form and detailcould be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of theapplication. Thus, the present application should not be limited by anyof the above-described example implementations.

I claim:
 1. A shirt construction, comprising: a shirt having a surfaceextending between a neck opening and a waist opening; at least a firstattachment member disposed on the surface of the shirt; a mask having anelastic member for securing the mask about a person's head; and a secondattachment member provided with the mask, the second attachment memberbeing configured to cooperate with the first attachment member in orderto secure the mask to the surface of the shirt.
 2. The shirtconstruction of claim 1, wherein the surface is a front surface.
 3. Theshirt construction of claim 2, wherein the front surface includes afirst graphic image, the mask includes a second graphic image, andwherein the first and second attachment members cooperate to align orcoordinating the first and second graphic images while the mask isattached to the shirt.